It’s a film, it’s not real life. They’re actors.
Trust me I’ve done a heck of a lot of film work and know precisely what happens when they’re cut and edited and to make things look much more exciting to the everyday viewer.
There’s even a memorable one where the actor driver is holding the reins and they’re crossed over half way down between his hands and the horse! Now THAT would make for interesting driving.
No proper driver slaps reins on the horses’ backsides nor do they hit the horses with the whip. Been that way with drivers since driving began. Much mention is made of it in the early driving books going right back to the 18th century. Hitting a driving horse with reins OR a whip is a HUGE NOOOO.
I was actually going to quote you some passages from the old European books on coaching but I can do even better and make it more particularly topic relevant.
I’ve actually got a very good book which I bought in America. Called Knights of the Whip (Stagecoach days in Oregon) by Gary and Gloria Meier. It’s about the opening of Oregon by the pioneers and specifically about the brave drivers who were known as Knights of the Whip who opened up the trails and drove the treacherous stagecoach route from Sacremento to Portland.
Its full of old photos of the drivers and coaches and horses from that era. I’ll quote you a passage from it:
Without doubt, the stage driver’s whip was his chief pride and joy. They were custom made for each driver, purchased with his own money, and maintained in the condition that suited his own artistic taste. It should be said here, and with emphasis, that the horses were NEVER struck with the whip. It was a firm rule of the stage company that they must not be. Any driver fool enough to hit a horse would lose all respect from his peers, and would be fired. Horses used by the stage company were intensely proud, spirited animals. To beat them would break their spirit and cause them to lose that certain mystique of pride, power and teamwork which was essential for pulling heavily laden coaches over rough terrain for long distances." from Knights of the Whip - Gary and Gloria Meier
So despite the above assertion, EVERYONE doesn’t slap the reins on the horse’s backsides at some point or other. I HATE it and have NEVER done it EVER and can’t begin to think why I would ever want to .
Which films where you the horse master of ?
